


Seven Days of Midwinter

by SkySkySkylar



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Midwinter, New Hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 18:50:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkySkySkylar/pseuds/SkySkySkylar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven days of Midwinter magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seven Days of Midwinter

**Author's Note:**

> My first true drabble fic – 100 words for each day.
> 
> Written for Max during the 2013 Goldenlake Wishing Tree Exchange. Prompt: Midwinter at New Hope.

The first day of Midwinter, Lady Knight Keladry allowed herself to sleep in for the first time in months. She woke with the sun already in the sky, to the shouts of children. Sitting up and looking out the window, she saw the sparrows pecking at the ground. Tobe had already fed them, then. Glancing around, she realized that he had also poked up the fire.  
  
Smiling, she swung herself out of bed and reached for her clothing. She might have less work than usual, it being Midwinter, but some things did not wait, and she had things to do.  
  
***  
  
The second morning of midwinter found Kel on the walls of New Hope, looking out over the land surrounding it. A soft blanket of snow covered everything, the gods having decided that the first night of festivities was a good time for a ferocious snow storm.  
  
 _I guess it's a good thing I decided to stay at New Hope,_  Kel thought.  _I would have worried by brains out if I'd gone to Mastiff – not that my people can't take care of themselves._  
  
Shaking her head, she turned, and walked down the stairs.  _Yes, they can_ definitely  _take care of themselves._  
  
***  
  
The third day of Midwinter, Kel, Neal, and Merric all found themselves in constant demand while at the same time getting the distinct feeling that quite a bit was being kept from them.  
  
Kel and Merric, trying to walk into the mess hall about an hour before lunch, were politely but firmly turned away – "the food'll be ready soon," a cook told them.  
  
Neal was stopped from looking under his own bed for his shoes by Yuki, who distracted him with a question and then retrieved the shoes herself.  
  
In the end, they just shrugged at each other and waited.  
  
***  
  
The waiting proved worthwhile, for on the fourth morning of Midwinter, the three knights walked into an elaborately decorated mess hall, in which almost the entire town was gathered, and were greeted by a standing ovation and shouts of "Merry Midwinter!" and "Gods all bless!"  
  
Surprised, the knights stopped and stared at the scene before them. Then, laughing, some of the children from Kel's spear class led them to seats, and food was placed before them. The celebration was not over at breakfast – for the rest of the day the population of New Hope made music, danced, ate, and laughed.  
  
***  
  
On the fifth day of Midwinter, Kel finally got to ask why the celebrations had been kept a secret (the day before, she had admitted to herself that the celebration was well under control and much better than anything she could have planned, and so she had allowed herself to enjoy it without asking questions).  
  
Tobe grinned up at her. "Because," he said, with an air of someone stating the obvious, "if you'd known, you would have become involved. And that would have been work. And you've worked so hard for New Hope, they wanted to give you a break."  
  
***  
  
On the sixth day of Midwinter, Kel had thought to do something for the orphans living in headquarters and host them a dinner. The orphans, however, had other plans. They had been attending the dinners of other families the entire week, they told her – and Kel, embarrassed, realized that she hadn't noticed at all.  
  
"I've got to start taking better care of them," she told Neal, who raised his eyebrows.  
  
"They seem to be pretty well taken care of by the town," he replied.  
  
"But I didn't even notice where they were!"  
  
Neal, Merric, and Yuki shook their heads, amused.  
  
***  
  
On the seventh and last day of Midwinter, a small snowstorm in the morning kept most people inside. (The exceptions to this rule, Kel noted with amusement, included many of the children, Merric, and a few soldiers, all of whom ran around shouting battle cries and trying to make snowballs to throw at each other.)  
  
That afternoon, the storm cleared up, and a larger proportion of the town (including Kel) came out to participate in a slightly more organized snowball fight. An hour later a truce was called, and everyone retreated inside to prepare for one last night of festivities.


End file.
